Bad Day
by Rinne
Summary: Gibbs and Tony are both having a bad day. Something has to give. COMPLETE


**Bad Day**  
**Rating: **K+  
**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything, not being paid.  
**Spoilers:** General season 3 up to around 3.10 Probie. Set around 3.10.  
**A/N:** Huge thank you to kate98 and Cha Oseye Tempest Thrain for betaing. I think this story may have been, in part, inspired by a scene in one of Tweeter's stories, so thanks for the inspiration!

McGee watched uneasily as Gibbs walked back into the squad room. He'd been in a bad mood all day and, while taking it out uniformly on everyone, somehow Tony still seemed to cop the worst of it. Tony himself had not been in a good mood. He'd kicked his bag over to his desk when he'd arrived that morning, and he'd had a scowl on his face ever since. McGee had been trying to stay out of the way of both men, while Ziva had briefly tried to figure out what was bugging Tony, but had given up after Tony had bluntly told her to mind her own business - with hand gestures for emphasis.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked as he powered by Tony's desk. "I assume you've got something for me on Petty Officer Kent."

Tony mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "He wasn't Superman," before replying loudly, "Not yet, Boss."

McGee sighed in relief when Gibbs didn't reply with anything negative or derogatory. He looked back over to Tony, who was staring at Gibbs with a blank face. It was a nice relief from the permanent scowl that had plagued him all day.

"Of course," Tony said, his face still blank, "I might get something done if you didn't interrupt me every five minutes." The words were expressionless.

Gibbs looked up from the folder in front of him, one eyebrow raised. "What, Tony?" he said quietly.

They stared at each other for what felt like hours, before Tony gave in and focussed again on his computer. "Nothing, Boss," he murmured.

"You've got ten minutes to get me something," Gibbs ordered, "before I seriously start wondering why I hired you, and why I haven't fired you yet."

Tony raised his eyes to Gibbs' again, a flicker of hurt altering the expressionless mask for a few seconds, before he suddenly got up and walked towards the elevator.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled. Tony ignored him, pressed the button for the elevator, and got in as soon as the doors opened. The doors shut before Gibbs managed to get out of his chair.

"Boss..." McGee started to say, trying to get Gibbs' attention before he left the office.

"I don't want to hear it, McGee," Gibbs said through gritted teeth. "Find something on Clark."

He stalked over to the elevator and jabbed the button.

"I _really_ wouldn't want to be Tony right now," Ziva said softly, watching as Gibbs got onto the elevator and the doors closed behind him.

"Really?" McGee asked. "I wouldn't want to be Gibbs."

* * *

"Gibbs!" Abby bounced into Gibbs' path, forcing him to stop in his tracks. He tried to move around her, but she moved with him, perkily jumping around to keep him from passing her.

"Abs," he warned.

"Gibbs, Boss man, I _really_ wouldn't try to speak with Tony right now if I were you."

Gibbs stopped moving. "You're not me, Abby."

Her hands stopped gesturing briefly. "Good point," she acknowledged, with a tilt of her head. "But, Gibbs, Tony, picked me up and moved me out of his way! Tony never does anything like that. He growled at me."

Gibbs smiled slightly at her, before lifting her up and moving her gently to the side.

"That was not a suggestion!" Abby called after his retreating back. "If either of them self-destruct, I'm not picking up the pieces," she murmured to herself as she studied the results that the mass spectrometer had given her.

* * *

"Tony." 

Gibbs walked slowly over to where Tony sat leaning against the wall, holding Bert-The-Hippopotamus loosely in his hands, and slid down the wall to sit beside him.

After a few minutes of silence, occasionally broken by Bert's farts, Tony spoke, his voice weary. "Just not today, okay, Boss? You can yell at me, and fire me all you want tomorrow, just not today."

Gibbs reached for the toy, studied it for a few seconds, before silently handing it back to Tony.

"You had no choice."

"What?" Tony asked, knowing that he was expected to ask the question, but not really wanting to engage Gibbs in conversation.

"If you hadn't killed White, he would have killed you. You had no choice."

Tony stared at him for a few seconds, wide-eyed. "How did you..." He looked away and snorted. "Stupid question."

Gibbs smiled wryly, but didn't speak, knowing that Tony would quickly break the silence.

"I can't believe it's been a year. I wouldn't have even realised..." He trailed off. Bert farted in the silence, eliciting small grins from both men. "I don't know why I care this much. He was a murderer; god, he murdered someone while I was asleep in the other room." He studied his hands. "He held a knife to my throat, and there was one brief moment...I thought about just letting him kill me. Why was my life worth more than his?"

"Aside from the obvious?" Gibbs asked dryly.

"He reminded me of me," Tony said quietly. "And even though I liked him, I thought he was pathetic." He turned to face Gibbs. "Do people think I'm pathetic?" he asked seriously.

Gibbs looked at him for a few moments, before slowly reaching around to slap him on the back of the head. "You're no more or less pathetic than the rest of us, DiNozzo." He stood up. "Now, you have a Petty Officer to find, and I want him found ten minutes ago."

"Yes, Boss." Tony leaned on Bert as he got up, releasing several more farts. "One Superman in disguise, coming right up."


End file.
